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In 2024, AI and AR are dominating the tech world. However, AR has become a ubiquitous technology, captivating millions worldwide. But AR is not as new as you might think, with reference, the concept going back to the early 1900's.
Do you know where it all started and the history behind AR? Let's dive in today to explore a little history about AR. After all, our previous generations had somehow the same dream too. We're really standing on the giants shoulders today.
The History of Augmented Reality
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1901: First recorded reference to AR by the author L. Frank Baum when he described the 'Character Marker' in the novel The Master Key.
A 'Character Marker', a set of spectacles: "while you wear them every one you meet will be marked upon the forehead with a letter indicating his or her character. The good will bear the letter 'G,' the evil the letter 'E.' The wise will be marked with a 'W' and the foolish with an 'F.' " – perhaps the first ever documented fantasy to see a world with touch of virtuality.
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1952: Cinematographer, Morton Heilig, created the world's first virtual reality (VR) machine – the Sensorama Machine. The Sensorama was a mechanical device, which includes a stereoscopic color display, fans, odor emitters, stereo‐sound system, and a motional chair. It simulated a motorcycle ride through New York and created the experience by having the spectator sit in an imaginary motorcycle while experiencing the street through the screen, fan-generated wind, and the simulated noise and smell of the city.
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1962: Morten Heilig, patented the Sensorama Machine.
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1974: Myron Krueger, built Videoplace, an 'artificial reality' lab. 'Videoplace' consists of two rooms. When a participant enters, they immediately see themselves projected on a screen in front of them, as well as the projection of anyone in the other room. Both of the participants see the same image.
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1982: AR is seen on TV for the first time, thanks to Dan Reitan's interactive AR system for waether broadcasters.
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1990: Tom Caudell, coined the term "Augmented Reality".
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1992: Louis Rosenberg develops the first fully immersive AR systems – Virtual Fixtures.
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1993: Karma, a system which used knowledge-based AR, introduced by Steve Feiner.
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1994: Julie Martin used AR in her theatre production 'Dancing in Cyberspace'.
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1996: CyberCode was created, the first AR system, using 2D markers.
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1998: NFL debuts AR during a live game, created by Sportsvision.
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1999: Nasa utilized a special AR dashboard for navigating the X-38.
Steve Mann aka 'The father of wearable computing' creates EyeTap. -
2000: The ARToolKit, the world's first open-source software library, is created by Hirokazu Kato.
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The world's first outdoor AR game, ARQuake was launched.
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2008: AR started being used for commercial purposes, such as magazine ad for BMW Mini.
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2009: FLARToolKit was born and developers could now display AR content on web browsers.
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2012: Google glass was launched to mixed reviews.
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2016: Pokemon Go launched and the world went mad for AR, reached a peak of 45 million of users daily.
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2017: Apple announced ARKit and Google launched ARCore, AR based apps sky-rocketed.
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2020: Resurgence of QR code during covid pandemic powered WebAR.
People started shifting from app based experience to web based experience.
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2021: Marvin XR was founded in Denmark, to provide the best in service WebAR experience – augmented reality content run via web browsers.
Apparently a long array of experimentation and invention led us to where we are today with augmented reality. A technology that has matured over the decades, has now shaped perfectly for our daily live usage.